Voting with their feet

This week's USAID report on Iraq has an item on refguees returning to Iraq:

The number of Iraqis returning to their country after fleeing abroad is growing, with more than 46,000 people coming home last month, an Iraqi government spokesman said November 7. Brigadier General Qassim al-Moussawi, the Iraqi spokesman for a U.S.-Iraqi military push to pacify Baghdad, said border crossings recorded 46,030 people returning to Iraq in October alone. He attributed the large number to the "improving security situation."

The number of refugees outside Iraq has been estimated at 2 million. In addition, another 2 million people are estimated to be displaced internally. If this is now indicative of a trend, it is an important shift in the correlation of forces in Iraq.

This week's USAID report on Iraq has an item on refguees returning to Iraq:

The number of Iraqis returning to their country after fleeing abroad is growing, with more than 46,000 people coming home last month, an Iraqi government spokesman said November 7. Brigadier General Qassim al-Moussawi, the Iraqi spokesman for a U.S.-Iraqi military push to pacify Baghdad, said border crossings recorded 46,030 people returning to Iraq in October alone. He attributed the large number to the "improving security situation."

The number of refugees outside Iraq has been estimated at 2 million. In addition, another 2 million people are estimated to be displaced internally. If this is now indicative of a trend, it is an important shift in the correlation of forces in Iraq.